Jumpside Elementary
by Green Gallant
Summary: So you think you've read just about every high school and college story there is. Fresh out of college Rich, Kori, Gar, Tara, Vic, Rachael, Sarah Simms and Karen Beecher are about to tackle their greatest challenge to date...teaching elementary school. How will the gang fair and will some of them crack under the pressure find out. Likely pairings Rich/Kori, Gar/Tara, Vic/Sarah.
1. Welcome to Jumpside

_Author's Note: Hey I'm back with another new story. This is something I've wanted to do for a while now. To be honest a lot of my friends have kids now and recently I've been thinking how awesome it would be to be a parent. To teach a little one certain things and after some more brainstorming I came up with this. It turned out a little differently than I first planned but I'm kind of proud of it. I decided to shake up the whole Titans-in-school scenario yet again. Let me know what you think._

_**Jumpside Elementary**  
_

_**Chapter 1**_

A new year has started at Jumpside Elementary School bringing with it new lives and challenges. Due to budget cuts and with a lot of the older teachers retiring before the school year, a changing of the guard has taken place bringing in seven new teachers fresh out of college and ready to start their first semester together. The faculty welcomed new teachers Richard Grayson, Kori Anders, Gar Logan, Vic Stone, Rachael Roth, Tara Markov and Sarah Simms. Having graduated together and knowing each other since grade school to high school they were eager to kickoff their careers as neophyte educators.

As each teacher was introduced to the staff and then to their classrooms, Kori Anders age 23 was the new kindergarten teacher replacing the 63-year-old Mrs. Sturgis. While 22 year old Tara Markov would be teaching the preschool class replacing the last teacher that been promoted to an 8th grade class. 24-year-old Richard Grayson had 1st grade, while his friend 25 year old Vic Stone will teach gym. 24 year old Rachel Roth teaches 7th grade citing that she may handle the older kids better, while 23 year old Gar Logan would be handling 4th grade history. And finally the 24-year-old Sarah Simms will be teaching special education, and was joined by a third year teacher named Karen Beecher who was 25. After settling into their classrooms for a bit, the new staff reunited with the older members of the faculty in the teacher's lounge. Helping themselves to coffee and heating up their lunches in the microwave the new blood got acquainted with the more senior educators. Richard took his dinner out of the microwave and joined the others on a small green couch against the wall, as the senior staff sat across from them.

Amongst them was a man in his early 60s whose hair was swept back into two large tufts, wearing a white dress shirt and red tie with black slacks. Next to him was a British gentleman with a mop of auburn hair and sideburns, with little rectangular glasses that looked to be in his 40s wearing a garish blue sweater with bright red stripes crisscrossing in a pattern reminiscent resembling the Union Jack flag, with a neckerchief, and tight fitting white slacks. Next to him was an overweight man in his 30s in a loose fitting black dress shirt with the top button undone and wasn't tucked in, with brown pants and sneakers with an orange mullet that came down to his waist, and was poorly shaven. Sitting in total contrast next to him was a prim older woman who looked to be nearing 40, and of European descent with short black hair dressed in a red blouse, and a black knee length skirt with one leg crossed over as she sat elevated above the others. Sitting opposite of her was a man that looked to be in his mid 30s to early 40s with black frost tipped hair, hallowed cheeks and wore a white shirt under a black short sleeved button down and dark pants. Finally joining them was their employer the principle a man in his sixties with medium length white hair that was parted down the middle, with a beard and mustache and several wrinkles wearing a black suit and tie.

"Welcome new faculty, my name is Slade Wilson principle here at Jumpside Elementary. Since we are less than 24 hours away from the first day of school I thought was appropriate that you'd be introduced to the senior members of our staff. These are Sebastian Blud 7th grade science, Neil Richards 8th grade world history, Conrad Freakshaw jr. high band, Laura DeMill 5th grade social studies, and Arthur Light 3rd grade English. If you have any questions during the school year feel free to ask them. Staff meet Richard Grayson, Kori Anders, Gar Logan, Vic Stone, Tara Markov, Rachael Roth and Sarah Simms." Mr. Wilson stated.

The sides got up and shook hands with one another as the old greeted the new.

"Hi, Richard." he said shaking hands with Blud.

"Sebastian, always a pleasure welcoming young ones aboard." He replied.

"Ello me duckies, Neil Richards is the name." he said shaking hand with Kori and then kissing her hand causing the twenty something to blush.

"Oh. Kori Anders." She said embarrassed slight.

"Charmed, pleasure to make your acquaintance. Call me Neil." He replied while Ms. DeMill rolled her eyes behind him.

"Nevermind the old man he has a tendency of…how do you say? Hitting on the new teachers." She added dryly.

"Old man? Now see here I'm not a day over 40. I'm the same age as you are Laura." He replied snippedly as the older woman glared at him causing Neil to jump.

"Nee-uh." He recoiled before she walked past and Neil whispered into Kori's ear.

"Ah pay her no mind she's always been rather caustic. She has." He muttered to her. Kori smiled back at her friends bemused by the older man's advances.

And it wasn't long before Neil introduced himself to the other lovely ladies. Rachael who responded to him coldly, while Tara and Sarah were similarly embarrassed but politely maintained their composure in spite of themselves. After the lunch break ended they went back to their homerooms studying rosters and lesson plans for the next day. For some the task seemed more daunting than others. In less than 24 hours Tara will be the sole teacher in charge of the preschool class. As was typical her homeroom was twice the size of the others, shelves filled with toys of every sort for girls and boys. Barbie dolls, action figures, stuffed animals, cars, tanks and helicopters in assorted sizes, Hot Wheels tracks, pedal cars, tricycles, a playhouse, a small outdoor playground with brightly colored plastic climbing walls with little circles to climb on, and a slide and several other things that came with it, including fake steering wheels and puzzle games on the walls above and around the slide. And several large emergency vehicles including a police car, fire truck and ambulance with sirens that lit up, a doctor's bag with stylized versions of a stethoscope, blood pressure monitor, toy band-aids, a syringe and other such accoutrements. She looked over at the two large tables forming a circle with twenty-four tiny chairs surrounding it along with the Disney and Sesame Street imagery plastering the walls, as well as the large older television strapped down to a cart and the plethora of Barney DVDs along with the aforementioned Sesame Street and Disney specials.

Tara sighed and almost collapsed into her seat realizing all that she'll have to handle tomorrow. Suddenly wondering if she was insane for wanting to teach preschool? For the other new teachers however their classrooms were a little more organized, but no less daunting wondering if they had what it takes to teach the next generation…and whether or not they'll survive the first day. The answer will be revealed as they wait anxious and some not so anxiously. After spending the entire day in empty classrooms, the teachers decided to have a look around the grounds where they hoped to remain employed for years to come. Prowling the hallways for the umpteenth time it wasn't long before Richard ventured outside to see two of his fellow peers camped out on the swing set. He had to appreciate the irony of the teachers themselves using the playground and came up to his collogues Gar and Tara who sat next to each other with Gar swinging at mid height while Tara remained anchored to the ground.

A smile played on Richard's face as Tara started pushing back and caught up with Gar a moment later while the pair climbed higher. At that same time Kori could be found sitting sidesaddle on one of the animal rides as Richard went to join Gar and Tara taking a swing on the far left hand side and started pushing back and swung slightly. Kori smiled and got off the rocking 'horse' and sat next to Richard joining him in flight. The auburn haired girl smiled at Richard and dared to go higher and swinging at full length like Tara and Gar on the other end. Richard didn't feel like going very high himself but gave it some effort and swung at half the level the others did and were off reliving their childhood as Vic, Rachel and Sarah stood next to the building watching them. Giving into the simple joy, Sarah joined her collogues taking a swing on the opposite end of Tara and Gar and started up, and was soon at the same height as the others. From their windows the elder staff caught sight of the newer team at different intervals from their workstations. In any other instance this would be seen as grossly unprofessional by the older staff, but today a large majority of them were bemused by the young staff, enjoying the last day before school as only they could.

That night across the city parents ran through the checklist of school supplies for their children. Making sure they had everything needed for the coming year, filing them neatly into their backpacks as the kids looked on some with anticipation and others showcased their dread. While the teachers recounted their lesson plans in preparation for the coming day.

At Tara's house however the young twenty something did more than study, putting in the last load of laundry for the night and starting up the washing machine, piling the last load into the dryer, and transporting the dry load that came before in a basket to her bedroom while her young niece watched _'Barney'_ in the living room. The purple dinosaur's signature song filled the room as Tara walked past her five year old niece who sat cross legged on the floor infront of the TV watching the program for the umpteenth time. Tara rushed into her room to drown out the lyrics she had known since childhood, sorting the clothing out on her bed while the perfume of her detergent filled the house. The warmth of her shirts and other articles filling her skin as she lovingly put them away in her closet. Pressing a freshly dried towel against her cheek she strolling into the living room and called out to her niece that it was time for bed. Her niece remained infront of the TV and called back that it was only 8pm, and her aunt reminded her that she had school in the morning.

Across town, parents were getting children ready for bed to their protests, one young boy wanted to stay up past 9 and watch TV. While at another residence another boy his age read his favorite comic book under the sheets. The boy's mother stuck her head in the door to say good night only to catch him reading his comic and flipped on the light grabbing the boy's attention and pulling the blanket off of him. The boy looked up at his mom innocently, his mother giggled slightly.

"Time for bed Mark." she told him.

"Just a few more pages mom. I'm almost done with this." he said sitting Indian style with the comic book and flashlight in hand. His mother smiled at him.

"You can read _'Mighty Crusaders' _tomorrow." she told him and started laying him down.

"New Crusaders, mom. And I just got this one. I've been reading it all evening. The Shield just put the new team together and I got to find out how it ends!" he protested softly. His mother sighed looking down at him and then over to the nightstand where the confiscated comic book laid.

The cover displaying a collage of the eponymous team in action. which showcased a girl in a black jumpsuit with insect wings and a mask shooting a pistol, an older man in an American flag themed suit of armor with stars on his chest and triangular shields on his gauntlets with gray swept back hair and a beard seated behind a table smiling, to his left was a broad shouldered teen in a red and blue short sleeved costume knocking out a bad guy, along with a larger image of a person wearing a cat themed helmet showing half her face, bisecting the helmeted figure's image was a man in a black and white costume shooting straight up with a sky blue aura like a rocket in flight, to his right was a boy in a blue and gold jumpsuit with a glowing web like cape, and finally to his left teenage boy with flaming hair and a wreath of flames coming from his hands. The title of the comic reading _'New Crusaders: Rise of the Heroes' _and a splash of text heralding it as the first issue.

The mother smiled and decided to indulge him.

"All right five more minutes. So who are these guys?" she asked sitting down next to him and peeked at the comic as her son took it back.

"Okay you see this old guy at the bottom?" he asked pointing at the figure.

"Yeah?" she said.

"That's the Shield, he was part of the old Crusaders. All these others are the kids of his teammates, they have the same superhero names and everything. He rescued them and decided to form the New Crusaders." the boy explained.

"Oh okay." she said sounding interested.

"That one with the wings and gun is Fly-Girl, the one above her is the Web. The guy in the middle with the helmet is the Jaguar, she's a girl. She's also really strong. Next to her is Steel Sterling, he's the strongest guy on the team. He's got huge muscles, the one above him is Fireball, he shoots fire from his hands. And the guy up in the air is the Comet he can fly." the boy finished explaining.

"Oh well that is interesting. Okay finish up your reading and then its bedtime mister." his mom said roughing his hair.

"Five minutes." she reminded him as she walked out.

"Yes mom." he said picking up where he left off.

"Good night." she said turning off the light.

"Good night mom." Mark said as his mother closed the door.

The next morning was the start of the school year as cars and vans pulled up to the front door of the elementary school and kids were dropped off by the busload. Children rushed to their classes storing things in their lockers and shuffled quickly towards homeroom. Chairs were scooted in and out as they took their seats and the teachers stood ready. Kori, Rich, Tara, Gar, Vic, Rachael, Sarah and Karen each stepped out behind their desks and went to the front of their classrooms to introduce themselves. For Tara it was a little more hectic as she had to convince the preschoolers not to immediately bolt towards the play area, while in the kindergarten class Kori's students were already at their desks silent and well behaved having put their stuff away in their little cubby holes.

Richard after introducing himself took a seat in front of the class as he introduced himself, while Vic got ready to play basketball with his first group of students ever. Gar made his way about the class as students flipped open their books and he started the lesson. Rachael had similar success as her 7th grade class was already underway. Halfway through first period however Tara's classroom fell into chaos as children ran rampant during playtime with Tara trying to corral 20 rambunctious toddlers, and maintain order...which she was failing horribly at. Her nerves and golden hair already frayed Tara did her best to get them under control holding one little boy underneath her arm while the other children raced about. At one point one of the kids got a hold of the paint to be used for arts and crafts and started flinging it about, splatting her in the face as she turned and shrieked as it hit. Tara stood frozen in shock dropping the boy as he ran off. The door opened a second later as a curious older woman looked in and stood witness to the havoc as Tara stood there with green paint smeared across her face and hair.

The older teacher soon took control of the situation and ordered all the students back to their chairs before ushering the poor girl out. The first period bell would ring a short time later and students went to their next class while Tara washed the paint off her face in the lavatory. Despite her best efforts couldn't get the paint out of her hair, covering the left side of her front tresses as well as having some of it on her clothes, and looked as though she was about to cry. The older teacher came into check on her and held the younger consoling her while keeping her tainted tresses at a distance. It wasn't long till word got out among the faculty as Tara was forced to make her way up to the principle's office to explain why she was leaving. Mr. Wilson was taken aback when he saw the young teacher's face.

"What happened?" he asked sitting his desk.

"It's um...it was an accident. Can I be excused please?" she asked trying to hold herself together.

"Well sure of course. Go take care of it." he responded generously gesturing towards the door.

"Thank you." she said and bolted out. Slade quirked his lip and shook his head.

"Poor thing." he said and hit the intercom button on his desk calling the front office.

"Mrs. Blake?" he said.

"Yes?" the voice on the other end answered.

"Ms. Markov has a personal issue to take care of. Can you make sure that someone watches her class while she's away?" he requested from his desk.

"Ms. Halloway is already on it chief. She volunteered and was the one that found her." the secretary replied.

"And what of her class?" he inquired.

"She said she gave them a study time." the secretary responded. The principle quirked the lip again contemplating this.

"Very good. I'll be checking on them in a bit." he replied and signed off. A knock at the door however interrupted his plans as the door opened and a rotund older woman brought in a young male student.

"Mr. Wilson sorry to bother you, but this boy was reading a comic book in class." the teacher explained.

"Did he fight with the teacher?" he asked from his desk.

"All right, leave him here." he replied and the teacher dropped him off before shutting the door behind her. Mr. Wilson then turned his attention back to the student who looked at him shyly taking a seat.

"Mark you know better." he explained.

"He wouldn't give me back my comic." the boy replied.

"Your not supposed to read those in class. That's why he took it away." the principle said.

"But I finished my homework and everything." he answered.

"All of it?" Slade asked.

"I was taking a break." he replied.

"I'll talk to the teacher and see if he'll let you have your comic book back. But this is the last time you should leave those at home. Now if you'll excuse me I have another manner to attend to." Mr. Wilson said getting up and leaving the boy in his office.

"I wonder if the other new teachers are fairing any better?" the principle muttered.

_Author's note: All right well that was certainly different wasnt it? I started this story last Sunday and kind of took a break from it, but all this week this story has been on my mind. Truth be told I think I miss writing X High School and I wanted to do something that had a similar atmosphere but at the same time something a little different. Something that didnt feel like a rehashing of the same tired old tropes and cliches of standard Titans high school fiction. So I thought what if they were teachers? The idea had a lot of promise to me and just couldn't stop thinking about it. I think one of the things I loved about writing X High was that I loved doing the little snippets of life, things like rainstorms, hanging out with friends, watching the sunrise just I don't know for some reason I find interest in the mundane. Anyway I'm sorry if the latter part of this opening chapter seemed a little scattered. To be honest the school part would probably work alot better in the second chapter. But just leaving it off where the boy reading the comic says good night to his mother seemed too abrupt. Am I weird for thinking that? Well I'll stop rambling for now. XD Let me know what you think. _

_Please review, _

_Green Gallant. _


	2. Morning Period to Noon

_Author's Note: All right I'm back with another chapter I want to thank my two eager reviewers Chickenscrews and Goirkens for their support of this fic thus far as well as anyone else that may be reading this. Hope you guys like it, enjoy. _

_**Jumpside Elementary**  
_

_**Chapter 2**_

_**Morning Period to Noon**_

While Tara went home to deal with her hair emergency, the rest of the faculty breezed through their first lessons with Richard teaching first grade math starting with the bare essentials.

"All right guys why don't we open our books to the very first page and get started? Now I imagine that most of you already know how to count up to ten right?" he said addressing the class. Most of the students nodded, and decided to refresh their memories a little bit before explaining basic math to them.

"Okay let's count from one to ten. Ready? One, two…" he said as the students counted along with him.

"Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!" the class answered parroting him.

"All right good job guys. Now we're going to take it a step further. You can also add numbers together solving a problem like the first one in your page. What does one plus one equal?" he asked and pointed his finger at an African-American boy.

"Yes." He said.

"Two?" the little questioned and seemed unsure even though the answer was before him.

"Right. One plus one is two. And if you add two plus one that equals three. Everyone get that?" he asked the class.

Richard continued the lesson as his voice started to trail off down the hallway, to the right of the hallway were two sets of stairs leading into the school basement where Kori's kindergarten class was located. In the middle of the classroom beyond their desks, the class sat on the giant rainbow themed rug at Kori's feet as she opened up a large storybook with Tigger and Winnie the Pooh on the cover. The book in question starred Tigger with him bouncing across with Pooh and Piglet standing in the background. Kori read aloud to the class the story about how high Tigger can bounce, showing the children pictures with each page she finished. The kids looked on in wonder at the illustrations as Kori read slowly and clearly for them to understand. The story continued with Tigger bouncing higher until he reached the treetops and then inevitably got stuck in one. And flipped the book back to show them Tigger with his limbs wrapped around the very top branch with no way to get down.

She went on about how he would be stuck up there for several more minutes too scared to come down on his own as Rabbit and Pooh were forced to climb the tree after him, while Owl soared straight to the top and chatted idly with Tigger telling him he had nothing to be afraid of, but Tigger wouldn't buy it and remained stuck with Rabbit voicing his annoyance to Tigger for being in this situation. As Rabbit and Pooh finally reached the terrified Tigger, Owl hovered overhead lending a hand only for the panicked Tigger to latch onto Owl's leg just as Rabbit reached out beneath him. Owl struggled to remain airborne with Tigger throwing them off balance and sent the lot tumbling to the forest floor below landing in a large pile of leaves. It wasn't till then Kori realized she had worried the children when one of them spoke up and assured the kids they were okay.

Kori flipped the book over showing they had landed in a soft pile of leaves until one of them noted something else on the next page. Kori looked down at the picture and read seeing that Pooh had actually ripped his seam with white fluff sticking out of his side. Kori continued reading as Pooh muttering an _'Oh bother'_ as he adjusted himself and was seen being sewed up by Christopher Robin as she turned the page. The bear was fixed up good as new with only the tiny sign of black stitching holding him together with Christopher giving Pooh Bear a hug and calling him a _'silly old bear'. _As they stood with the other supporting characters including Kanga, Roo, Piglet, Gopher, and Eeyore Tigger had quickly forgotten his lesson and bounced down the lane again without a care in the world with some encouragement from little Roo. As one of the savvy kindergartner's pointed out that Tigger wasn't very smart, which made their teacher giggle and agreed with the little student that he wasn't the brightest.

Once the story was over she reminded the class that it was now naptime to the protests of some of her students while everyone else went to retrieve their sleeping rugs from the laundry hamper, actually a blue plastic basket that stood waist high and camped out on the floor to have their ten minute nap. Kori turned off the lights in the classroom and retreated behind her desk to catch up on her work and check email at her leisure. Upstairs and down the hall from Richard's class was Gar's forth grade history. At that same time however Principle Wilson returned from checking on the students left alone by their teacher to tend to Tara's preschoolers. The boy that had been sent up to his office was now free to leave upon Wilson's return and left without saying a word, went to the main office to check out and returned to class embarrassed. Back in Gar's forth grade class; students cracked open their textbooks as he walked between rows and started from the beginning.

Unfortunately Gar got a little tongue tied as he started the lesson and made the students believe that the United States had been founded by hockey playing penguins in the city of Pittsburgh one that apparently flew over the top of his head until one of the students asked him if he was talking about the _pilgrims _that settled on Plymouth Rock.

"Yeah what'd I say?" he asked his class prompting to laugh. Gar smiled and pointed back at them with a wink.

"Got ya. Nice to know your paying attention, all right let's jump back a few hundred years earlier to 1492 when Christopher Columbus first discovered America." He said jumping right into the lesson.

And if they liked that wait till he tells them how George Washington felt when Napoleon beat him at Pearl Harbor. And other absurdities to make sure they listen and did well in class. Even though history wasn't naturally _his _strong suit he sought to ensure that they knew even more about history than he did, occasionally throwing them curveballs from the obvious to more mutable glitches such as asking them if the Revolutionary War was fought over the British tea tax. Giving them an overview of what will likely be covered for the next four months.

Meanwhile down in the gymnasium coach Vic's students finished there warm up exercise regiment that consisted of sit-ups, pushups and jumping jacks. When they were finished with that he tweeted his whistle and ordered them to run a couple laps around the gym floor. After they had completed the recommended four laps he divided the sixty students up into two teams and started the first day of school with everyone's favorite sport, kickball. When he realized that the gym wouldn't hold 30 students to each side he split up them up again into four teams with fifteen students each sending the additional two teams to the bench for the next game. Vic and a female assistant stood off to the side as Vic clutched his whistle in his teeth and tweeted as the two teams launched into one another. A handful of students on the right hand side got the balls first and started pelting their classmates while a larger number of the opposing team did the same. A young girl leaped into the air hurling a ball at an African American boy's face smacking him in the jaw with the white sphere.

The two sides quickly dwindled as the more aggressive players whittled down the opposing team's defense. Before long the team on the right side of the gym had ten players while the one on the left had only five. The girls on the larger team quickly dispatched two of its players. One African-American player caught the ball with his bare hands taking the tomboy with the blonde ponytail out of the match. The left side was still grossly outnumbed with a tally of nine against three. Another player on the right hand side was taken out and so was one more before the girls ganged up on the remaining players taking one out, before the next to last player caught it with his hands though smacking him in the chest. Vic had to decide whether or not to let him continue playing and finally decided against it leaving just one player against the four girls and one boy and quickly and easily picked him off ending the first match.

The coach blew his whistle and the team rotated with the new sides taking the field. The game would repeat with the successor team on the left side of the gym fairing better than the former and systematically decimated the latter half on the right side of the gym. The two sides switched out again and continued as such for the rest of the period.

A few more hours passed and the lunch bell rang, students rushed out of class to their lockers and then scurried down the hallway waiting in line outside the cafeteria. At the head of the line students scooped up their trays as the lunch ladies shoveled food onto the trays handing them down to the next cafeteria worker in line while the students themselves moved down towards the end of the line receiving five different kinds of food including mashed potatoes, broccoli and turkey slices and gravy among other things. At the end of the line students picked up a carton of white or chocolate milk and then paid for their lunches before filling out the tables. The line quickly dwindled as the students were served, upstairs teachers retreated to the sanctity of the teacher's lounge as they majority of them met up, retrieving meals from the communal fridge and heating them up in the microwave. A small flat panel TV sat on a counter turned to the area midday news as educators sat down at a large table in the middle of the room to enjoy their lunch. During which the young educators finally had time to sit down and chat

"Hey." Rich said sitting across form Kori at the table.

"Hi." She smiled.

"So how's your first day going so far?" he asked as he started to eat.

"It's going great! How about yours? I just finished reading a story to them, we did some glue stick art earlier with glitter, and when I get back I'm going to teach them the Alphabet and make a blanket fort with chairs before the days over. Oh and I may get them started on the _'Ten Little Indians'_ play sometime this week." Kori chirped. As Richard looked back at her surprised.

"Wow, a play already you're moving pretty fast. You may run out of things to do before the week's over." He joked cutting into his roast beef.

"It's something we did when I was little. Come on you remember, it was a nursery rhyme. It was something they did all the time when we were kids." She told him.

"Well I kind of remember some of it, but I don't even know how the song went." Her collogue admitted prompting Kori to demonstrate and tapped her nails against the table.

One little, two little, three little Indians

_Four little, five little, six little Indians_

_Seven little, eight little, nine little Indians_

_Ten little Indian boys_

_Ten little, nine little, eight little Indians_

_Seven little, six little, five little Indians_

_Four little, three little, two little Indians_

_One little Indian boy_

She smiled looking up at him having used her fingers to count off the little Indians in her song and quickly discovered the room was quiet as the rest of the faculty looked back at her spread throughout the teacher's lounge including her friends.

"You singing songs Kori?" Mr. Blud asked to her embarrassment.

"I uh…" she stammered till Rich covered her hand and spoke up.

"She was telling me about a play from when we were little. Reminding me how an old song went." He replied.

"By the way Kori I just thought I'd remind you that we only have half day kindergarten here at this school." Sebastian added.

"Yeah I know." She said.

"So what do you think of your first day on the job?" he asked the new faculty.

"Great." said Richard.

"Love it." added Gar.

"Things have been going smoothly." Injected Vic.

"The students are all right. No trouble so far." added Rachael.

"Kori what about you?" Mr. Blud asked. Kori quirked the corner of her lip and played with her hair a bit as she replied.

"I love it, the kids have been great. I enjoy doing activities with them but I'm a little divided on the whole half day schedule for them. Part of me feels like there isn't enough time to get everything done, and the other part of me is kind of relieved when they leave for the day. I guess it just takes some getting used to." She said looking back at him. Mr. Blud smiled back.

"Don't worry I'm sure you'll do fine. The first week back is often the most chaotic, indeed the first day often is. You'll grow into it." he said laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Besides you still have one more class to deal with before the day's over. So don't think your out of the woods yet." Joked Richard. Kori smiled and nudged him gently with her elbow as they sat across from each other.

"Hey speaking of teachers, has anyone seen Tara?" Gar asked noting her absence.

"I heard that her class was out of control this morning and she had to go home and clean up." Ms. Demill said from the back of the room. Gar touched his chin in contemplation before looking up.

"How long is our lunch break again?" he asked.

"About 20 more minutes, vhy?" Ms. Demill asked in a nasally voice.

"I think I'll check and see how she's doing. I'll be back as soon as I can." he said leaving the teacher's lounge. Richard, Kori, Vic and Rachael exchanged glances and went after him. Closing the door behind them the quintet stood in the hallway as Gar made his departure.

"You want us to cover for you?" Rich asked showing a hint of concern.

"Nah, I don't want you guys to get in trouble just because I go AWOL. But I appreciate it. I'll be back here as quick as I can. And see if she's coming back as well." He said looking back at them.

Checking in with the front office he told the secretary he was going to check on Tara and would be back in a while. The secretary gave him the okay and left, pulling up to her house a few minutes later he climbed the wooden steps infront of her two-story house and rang the doorbell. The door opened a minute later showing Tara in a white robe with a towel covering her hair.

"Gar." She said surprised

"Hey Tara." He replied.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I just thought I'd check on you. I heard you had a rough first day." he said. Tara frowned and opened the door letting him in.

"Yeah I guess you can say that. Give me one second okay?" she asked still upset from the ordeal.

"Okay." He said as he entered the living room and Tara rushed upstairs to change.

Sitting down on the couch he flipped on the TV to occupy his time while Tara poked through her closet and threw on some clothes. A few minutes later she came downstairs wearing a yellow t-shirt with a black stripe across the shoulders, and denim shorts as she raced downstairs with her sneakers in hand sitting down in the chair across from Gar.

"So how you feeling?" he asked looking back at her. Tara shrugged concentrating on her hair delicately stroking her blonde tresses.

"A little better. I don't really have anything to get it out. I thought about cutting it but I'm not sure." She answered in a low voice. Gar's frown deepened as he sat across from her.

"So have you thought about coming back?" he asked her.

"I don't know." She said hanging her head.

"Come on Tara, you cant just give up like that. It's only the first day of school. I mean I know a woman's looks mean everything to them but you cant let something like that get in the way." he said trying to cheer her up. A tiny smile played on her face as she looked up at him. He smiled back as he continued.

"You know before the day started I was afraid I'd screw up infront of the class. I ended up telling them that we were settled by penguins that came to Pittsburgh on the Mayflower." He said making her laugh.

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"Yeah, I got tongue tied but you know I played it off as a joke and they went along with it. Those kids are smart as it turns out, and you know what? I love teaching them, I may have dropped the ball within the first 10 seconds but I didn't let that stop me. I just rolled with it and it turned into something awesome. So now they think I'm a super smart teacher that messes with them to make sure that their paying attention and it works. I get to have a little fun with them and class is more interesting and engaging for them, everyone wins." He smiled as she smiled back at him.

He diverted his eyes for a second and glanced down at the small pile of DVDs that sat underneath her TV and had a plan.

"I don't know how to control four year olds, but maybe if you distracted them with something you can get through the day." he said looking back at her.

"Kids that age need stimulation, the only way they'll sit still if their watching TV." She said with realization and suddenly was on the same wavelength as Gar.

"Yeah what if you were to show them some of these DVDs you have for your niece? I mean it doesn't have to be anything educational but maybe something like…" he said sorting through the pile and pulling up a random cover.

"_Tiny Toon Adventures_, I remember this that was one of my favorite shows growing up used to be on TV all the time. What else you got in here? Oh dude you have classics in here _Darkwing Duck, Tailspin, Ducktales, Sonic The Hedgehog. _ I freakin loved these shows when I was a kid." He said pulling up another DVD of a series gone by.

"_Sailor Moon_ not so much. _David The Gnome, Captain Planet, Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Lab, Jungle Cubs?" _looking up at her.

"It was based on the Jungle Book, it was on for a few years and I found it on sale. Its cute!" she remarked.

"Uh huh, you have a lot of DVDs here." He said sorting through the rest.

"Well I kind of have to I have a five year old to take care of. There's some newer stuff in there too that she likes _'Strawberry Shortcake', 'My Little Pony'_ I found both the original and the new one a while back. You know just the kind of stuff little girls like to watch, and of course _Barney_ and _Yo! Gabba Gabba_, a bunch of other preschool shows she can watch. _Arthur, Teletubbies_, I can go on forever listing them. You know it keeps her entertained…you think I should show my class some of these?" she asked.

"Well I'm thinking it couldn't hurt. Might keep them calm and you can use them as rewards for when they get through a class period together. Or maybe show them once a week give them something to look forward to during the week, not that they don't have enough things to look forward to." He suggested as her mood continued to improve.

"So you feel like coming back?" he grinned sitting across from her. Tara took one the DVDs out from under the TV and stood up.

"I think I'll manage." She said.

"Awesome cause we have like six minutes until the next class starts. So we better book it." he said standing up. Tara laughed as he raced out towards the door.

"I'll just grab something from the fridge real fast. I haven't eaten yet." She said walking calmly into the kitchen grabbing a chocolate cupcake wrapped in saran wrap and joined him at the door.

"So are you taking your car or what?" he asked walking around the front of his green 1990s Pontiac Grand Am.

"I'll just ride with you, it'll save time looking for parking." She said as he unlocked the door and got in. Tara closed the passenger door and slipped on her belt as he raced back toward the school.

_Author's Note: All right I apologize if this story seems a little disorganized. I hope it was to everyone's liking. Thanks again to my reviewers Chickenscrews and Goirkens who left me with plenty of insight for this story. If anyone else has any thoughts or opinions regarding this story I'd be more than happy to hear them. _

_Please review, _

_Green Gallant. _


	3. Trouble

_Author's Note: Hey I'm back with another chapter hope you guys like it. _

_**Jumpside Elementary**_

_**Chapter 3**_

_**Trouble**_

Back at Jumpside a half hour earlier the lunch bell rang as students filed into the cafeteria taking up their trays as a line quickly formed down the left hand side of the room, and the lunch ladies served up mashed potatoes and gravy with chicken nuggets, peas and spiced apple. The kids each picked up a small carton of white, chocolate or strawberry milk and paid for their lunches before sitting down to eat. As the room quickly filled up, a small African American boy sat by himself in the back of the lunchroom wearing a red t-shirt with black stripes across the shoulders and camouflage pants. The little boy who seemed to be about 9 or 10 with an explosion of blonde hair stared crestfallen at his tray. No one else would sit with him although the other children noticed him but dismissed his presence just as fast. The other teachers took note as Gar, Richard, Kori, Vic and Tara approached the boy to see what the deal was. Gar was the first one to reach out to the boy touching his shoulder as he looked up at them with a timid expression.

"Hey. Is this seat taken?" Gar asked gently as he could. The little boy shook his head.

"Well is it okay if we sit with you?" Richard asked. The boy looked back at him questioningly and silently nodded. And the teachers gently sat down next to him.

"What are you doing over here by yourself?" Rich asked. The boy shrugged as he looked back at them.

"Nobody wanted to sit with Me." he answered in a low voice, almost whispering.

"Well what's your name?" Gar asked.

"Kaldur." The boy replied innocently.

"Don't you have any friends Kaldur?" Richard asked. The dark skinned boy shook his head.

"No one likes me." he replied.

"Well what makes you say that?" Kori asked swinging her leg over the bench and leaning in to listen.

Kaldur looked back at her hurt, his eyes rolled back as he touched his sizable blonde Afro.

"They make fun of my hair, say its not the right color. And that I'm too quiet and weird." He replied. The teachers groaned in sympathy as Richard, Vic and Rachael couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of anger at the boy's plight.

"Well I know how to fix that. Be right back." Rich said standing over the group and excused himself.

The teacher walked around the table they were sitting at and moved a few spaces where two young boys were seated amongst a sea of students. Coming up behind two boys Kaldur's age, Richard stuck his head down between them and got their attention.

"Tim, Conner you guys got a second?" he asked them. The boys went rigid as soon as he spoke to them and reluctantly turned back to see him.

"Yeah?" Tim asked.

"What's up?" added Conner.

"You see that boy down there with the other teachers? I want you guys to play with him at recess and help him feel welcome." He instructed. Conner who had short black hair and wore a blue t-shirt with the Superman emblem scowled at him.

"Do we have to?" the boy retorted.

"As a matter of fact you do. We just learned that he doesn't have any friends and everyone else picks on him." he told Conner.

"That's because he's weird and quiet. He wont talk to anyone so I don't bother." Conner said with a defiant shrug.

"Well think of this as extra credit. Give him a chance you might actually like him and want him to be your friend. That goes for you too Tim." The teacher ordered as Tim looked up at him dumbstruck.

"Why are you lumping me together with Conner?" he asked wearing a scarlet t-shirt with yellow rectangular stripes down the middle, black short sleeves and an 'R' symbol on the left side of his shirt.

"Because your best friends and it'll double the number of friends he has. Killing two birds with one stone." The teacher replied. The boys groaned in disapproval looking back at the lonely Kaldur.

"Come on, chop-chop." He told them. The boys sighed and picked up their lunch trays having to abandon their other classmates.

The two boys sat across from Kaldur and the teachers a few minutes later forced to say hi to him, Conner having no real interest while Tim was a little more outgoing.

"Hi." He said.

"Hi." Kaldur replied shyly.

"I'm Tim and this is my friend Conner." Tim said shaking hands with him. Conner rolled his eyes and didn't shake hands with the boy as the teachers stood over them. The boy in blue sighed and shook hands with Conner still not pleased with the situation he found himself in.

"Kaldur. What are you guys doing here? I thought you were sitting with your friends?" he asked.

"We were." muttered Conner and was elbowed by Tim under the table.

"Ow." He said holding his side and glared at his best friend. Tim smiled back at Kaldur and changed the subject.

"We changed our minds. It was a little crowded over there." he replied.

"Oh." Kaldur said and slumped in his seat misinterpreting his response. Earning a mild glare from the teachers.

"But you know there's plenty of room over here and we don't really talk to those guys over there anyway. We saw you by yourself and thought we'd drop in and say hi. So do you want to hang out with us at recess?" Tim recovered. Kaldur paused and looked away embarrassed.

"Um, sure I guess." He replied softly.

"Awesome, it'll be fun. Right Kon?" Tim smiled and ribbed his friend once more. Conner yelped briefly and scoffed with a disapproving glare towards Kaldur.

"Yeah…fun." he muttered.

After seeing that he was in reasonably good hands with Tim and Conner, the teachers made their way back to the lounge to start their own late lunch while several of them stayed behind to scan the lunch room one last time before turning it over to the attendants who actually oversaw the cafeteria. A short time later the recess bell rang and students raced to the playground on the other side of the school. Tim and Kon made sure to take Kaldur with them and hang out with him as promised sitting out under an oak tree bringing Tim's beloved Batman action figures out with him. And had three toys with him that day, two of which were 7" high Batman and Joker action figures, while the third one was the shell of a Batmobile that had sustained some damage from their intensive play while Tim handed Kaldur his Batman action figure as he sat between them on a tree root, and was taken back that someone would let him play with one of their toys, clutching the plastic figure delicately and looked back at the boys in gratitude.

"So come on are you going to play or not?" Conner rudely asked snapping Kaldur from his haze as he glanced back at him while Tim glared at his best friend sitting across from him.

"Oh, yes of course. But…is it okay if I play with this by myself?" Kaldur asked.

"You can do whatever you want Kaldur." Tim told him even though the idea was for them to play together, which Conner still wasn't that thrilled over.

Kaldur looked down at the coveted toy and briefly considered playing with the figure by himself. But thought better of it and looked back at Tim.

"It would make more sense if Batman had the Batmobile." He reasoned.

"Or we could just saw that the Joker stole it and he has to catch it." Conner flippantly replied. Kaldur's sudden smile faded while Tim laughed at his friend's remark.

"Don't worry you get used to him. He's kind of a jerk but once you get past that... actually he's still a jerk but you learn to tolerate him." Tim joked.

Kaldur smiled slightly and laughed realizing he was among friends as he leaned in with the Batman toy in hand, and Tim with the Batmobile while Conner begrudgingly joined in with the Joker action figure he was holding and the three explained to each other what was happening between Batman and the Joker and how the Batmobile was involved and were drawn into the game.

Across the way Conner's slightly younger cousin Chris was playing soccer with the boys. The adopted son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, Chris has short brown hair parted to one side and was decked out in a Superman t-shirt like his few months older cousin Conner, with the Man of Steel in flight, jeans and a red vest. The game was soon be interrupted by a boy named Damian the bratty and contemptible son of billionaire industrialist Bruce Wayne. At just six years old Damian had a superiority complex the size of Jump City itself. Ruled by his ego Damian had contempt of anyone that wasn't of Wayne blood and was a handful for both teachers and students. As the ball landed at his feet Damian picked up the ball as Chris ran toward him.

"Hey thanks can we have our ball back?" the older student asked. Damian glared at him clutching the ball in his tiny hands and responded in a dry, sardonic tone.

"Why?" he asked. Chris looked to his side and then back to Damian.

"Because we were playing with it." he reasoned.

"But it rolled up to me, so it's mine now. You'll have to take better care of your stuff kid." Damian replied in his self-assured tone.

"But its not yours, it belongs to the school. Which means it belongs to everyone." Chris reasoned calmly. The boy flashed an evil smile at the forth grader.

"Tell you what if you let me play I'll let you have it back." he replied. Chris smiled at the younger student.

"Yeah sure, let's go." Chris said and rushed back to the field. The kindergartner flashed a wicked smile as he tossed the ball slightly in the air.

"Yes, let's. This will be too easy." He said and walked onto the field.

A short time later he was playing with the older students and ignored whose team he was on. Pushing and shoving everyone out of the way at his attempts to volley the ball but was repaid in kind as the other kids got the ball away from him a few too many times, and initiated a temper tantrum with Damian tripping and then kicking one of the downed players that dared foul up his play until Chris was forced to step in and separate him from the older player. Outraged at the indignity of being touched by one of the 'lower class' he assaulted Chris hitting him in the stomach and legs until one of the teachers broke it up, blowing his whistle as he came onto the field. The recess instructor got between them demanding an explanation for the one sided brawl. Chris however wasn't hurt and calmly tried to explain while Damian was still having a meltdown over the minor scuffle, demanding that he was in the right as always.

The instructor had enough and carted the younger student off the field by his shoulder. And was given a timeout next to the wall of the building for the rest of the period. The kindergartner brooded having his precious playtime stolen from him yet again. It wasn't his fault they were all idiots, they weren't giving him a chance to dominate them. The boy rolled his eyes as he slid down to the concrete and sat out the last fifteen minutes of recess. The instructor blew his whistle as students lined up by the door, and Damian was finally allowed to leave. The bell rang a short time later as returned to class, but Damian was still fuming over having his recess taken away. And refused to cool off as he entered the classroom downstairs. And groaned at the bright and happy decorum that littered his kindergarten classroom and the exceedingly peppy Ms. Anders who he was convinced was there to torture them with rudimentary grade school skills, incessant storytelling and inane songs. The only thing he mildly enjoyed about it were coloring time and juice boxes, at least then he didn't have to listen to anyone while he got some work done. But today seemed especially grating to Damian, and it appeared that having his recess taken away was the straw the broke the camel's back.

Ever since the disgrace Damian had been irritable all through class period still focused on making those older boys pay and calling Kori names anytime she called on him to answer a question. Kori of course took notice and tried to figure out what was wrong with her calm demeanor but Damian wouldn't have it, saying she was an idiot and that anyone could do her job. Kori finally had enough and put her book down.

"All right what seems to be the problem?" she asked in a more adult tone.

"The problem is that I'm surrounded by idiots all the time, that includes you Anders. Anybody can teach a room full of babies. In case you haven't noticed Ms. Anders I'm not a baby, I'm smarter than anyone else in this room and I demand to be moved up at least a grade or two." The six year old replied venomously.

Kori narrowed her eyes at the student and doled out her first punishment of the school year.

"Damian I think you should go sit in the corner. We'll talk about your placement in this school later." She advised in a calm, even voice. Damian balked slamming his hands on the table as he stood up.

"You don't get it do you? You're holding me back! Your all holding me back! Well I'm sick of it!" he yelled grabbing a large toy tractor and hurling it across the room at Kori.

The teacher sidestepped briefly dodging it as it slammed into the wall behind her and was shocked by this show of violence and forced her hand. Unable and unwilling to tolerate this Kori pressed the intercom and asked for Richard to come down to her classroom, while she tried to handle Damian until he got there.

Kori made her way around the table as he chuckled papers, crayons and writing utensils at her, which did her no harm, and she was forced to apprehend the unruly student from behind. The door of her classroom opened a minute later as Richard stood at the threshold and raced in to help her.

"What's going on?" he said concerned as he grabbed Damian's shoulder.

"He's throwing a temper tantrum, help me get him up to the principle's office." She told him as they lifted Damian out of his seat while the other students watched.

"So what did he do?" he asked.

The story would soon be retold in Principle Wilson's office as the trio infront of his desk with Damian's father Bruce Wayne sitting behind them in the left corner of his office, and Chris Kent and the recess teacher standing next to the door.

While his father stared at the back of their heads in a black suit and tie, arms folded, and his left leg crossed with a sneer. Richard, Kori and Damian stood in the middle of the room facing Slade as the principle sat behind his desk with a bewildered expression, slouching slightly in his chair with his left fist pressed against his cheek and a leg crossed behind his desk trying to make sense of the situation.

"You threw a tractor at her?" he said in disbelief. Damian remained silent and stone-faced, glaring back at the principle in defiance.

"Answer him Damian." His father said with a hint of annoyance. The boy scoffed and responded.

"What difference does it make if I did?" he answered in a low voice.

"It makes a lot of difference Damian. This is only the first day of school and I've already had to call your father. This is pretty serious, starting fights, throwing things at the teacher and calling her names. I don't want to have to expel you on the very first day of school. That's not a very good way to start the year Damian." The principle said softly scolding him. The boy scoffed and was unaffected by his declaration.

The principle leaned forward, resting his forearms on his desk and clasped his hands together as he continued.

"You talk about how others don't respect you and that you deserve to be moved up a few grades. But from what I've heard so far, you don't deserve any of that Damian. You're a selfish, self-entitled brat who throws a temper tantrum when you don't have your way and until you learn to behave yourself you wont be going anywhere grade wise." He told Damian before focusing his attention on Mr. Wayne who was still in the room.

"I apologize for my brashness though Mr. Wayne. But your son has some serious control issues; I do hope that you look into that Mr. Wayne." Slade added. Bruce narrowed his eyes mildly annoyed but took it in stride.

"Not at all Mr. Wilson, I suppose part of the blame is mine. Mind you I wasn't like this when I was his age." He said standing up.

"I wasn't trying to imply that Mr. Wayne, but maybe you should spend a little more time with him." Wilson replied in a courteous tone. And sat up as his mouth vanished behind his steepled fists.

"And what's the final verdict?" Bruce asked. The principle pondered for a moment.

"I believe we'll just skirt the punishment for the time being. And leave the rest of that in your capable hands Mr. Wayne." He said standing up from his desk. The two shook hands as Bruce nodded ending the conference.

"Sorry for having to bring you down here." Slade mentioned.

"It happens, this is the third school he's been to now." Bruce answered.

"Really." The principle said intrigued.

"Yeah he's had problems at other schools, the last one he went to St. Vincent's really didn't work out." Bruce mentioned.

"I can imagine." muttered Slade.

"I thought we'd try public schools and see if that would bring him down a peg. Apparently I was wrong." Bruce said looking back at his kid.

"I know a good child psychologist you can try." Slade said handing him a card from his pocket.

"I'll take it into consideration." He smiled pocketing the card.

"Hopefully we wont be in here too many times." Slade joked.

"Yeah, I wouldn't count on that." Bruce replied raising an eyebrow in a hint of cynicism.

After the meeting concluded Damian was taken home by his father while Chris went upstairs to the art room. The class was already underway as he poked his head in the door and soon noted his presence. The boy made his way up to the teacher's desk and handed her a note explaining his absence and took his seat at a table towards the back of the class where his cousin Conner and his friends Tim and Kaldur sat across from him.

The rest of the school day went on without a hitch and the final bell rang with students running to their buses. At the back of the school stood a line of bright yellow buses numbered one to thirty-one with black lettering emblazoned on the sides as _'Jump City United Public School Dist. No. 45'. _Engines started as the first ten buses were filled to capacity and started to back away from their parking blocks while students continued to fill up the remaining buses and left the school parking lot. The smell of diesel smoke filled the air as the trail of buses circled around the front of the school and hit the road taking the children home as their engines raced up to speed. At last the first day of school was finally over. _  
_

_Author's Note: All right so what'd you think of that? I apologize if the end seemed a little lackluster. To be honest I've been having a little trouble finding the direction of this story. One of my friends asked me if other characters would make an appearance in this story and I decided to go ahead with that. I'm fairly certain you recognized some of them. Others maybe not so much. Anyway that's all for now let me know what you think. _

_Please review, _

_The Green Gallant. _


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